Think I picked up that the start line remains open for 10 days. So Charal can hopefully get the repairs done and re-start. Sounds like there is also some damage to the deck and runner.
Seems interesting that there is still a mix of new generation foilers, previous gen foilers and daggerboard boats at the front of the pack.
As I understand it you can return to the start within 10 days and receive team assistance for repairs and restart, once on the course no outside help. Presumably he's hoping to get fixed and restart.
Edit- Owen was just ahead of me!
Ah that makes sense - he can get more help from team at the start than returning to a random nearest port.
Some grumbling above about the virtual race chat polluting this thread
Behold!
Virtual Vendee Globe 2020 Thread
Some grumbling above about the virtual race chat polluting this thread
Behold!
cheers!
Boris’ boat is sending us all the data.
why are they measuring Water CO2 concentration? Just for environmental surveying?
Just for environmental surveying?
Probably - just because they can. Water temperature can be a biggy though as it can indicate when the boat has moved into/out of various ocean currents - but it's also good environmental data to have.
Water temperature can be a biggy though as it can indicate when the boat has moved into/out of various ocean currents
yeah I get that. Maybe water with more dissolved CO2 is less dense ..so faster...or slower cos less lift for the foils 🙂
When they return to dock I presume that doesn’t restart their race run? Also you’d think they’d test, test and test again before setting off. Must be incredibly frustrating your boat breaking 2 days in. When they are sleeping does the boat just do what it wants. South Pacific sounds particularly horrific with every other ocean not far off.
Return to start does not reset time. He is now a week behind.
These boats are on autopilot a lot of the time and they have collision radar. They don't detect underwater issues - the damage to Charal is supposed to be hitting discarded nets at high speed. Boats have lost keels before hitting containers etc. The radar does pick up ice though in Southern Ocean.
Charal has probably done more testing than any of the new boats as one of if not the first to be launched. At the speeds they go hitting a container, nets or possibly even a whale will do serious damage. Last race the previous Hugo Boss did half the course with only one foil. Current Hugo Boss hit something during her first race and damaged the keel rams and they had to cut it away and sail downwind to the Azores I think.
People have returned to restart before and still finished high up. Someone (mike Golding ?) even lost a mast early on and restarted.
These boats are on autopilot a lot of the time
There was a thing on the other day about the 3 British females and one of them was saying she sleeps for 30mins at a time
So Jean leCam sneaks into a temporary lead. I think we will see Alex gybe and scream into a much bigger lead than yesterday.
one of them was saying she sleeps for 30mins at a time
They all do..... For 3 months!
I was watching a piece and the general consensus is that the latest generation of foilers are close to what the human body can endure for long races.
Just watched one of the weekly round ups - a few hours off the start and all the skippers were talking over their emotions. Those on the daggerboard boats looked like they were out for a sail, the new boats looked racy. All their skippers looked pensive.
Then alex turned up sat inside his Tupperware box which was shaking and screeching all the time and he looked over the moon! It was great.
And he was talking about only taking 67 days food - winners edge right there. Maybe!!
Enjoyed it so far.
And he was talking about only taking 67 days food – winners edge right there. Maybe!!
I recon the 6 is upside down....
Previous edition was won in 74 days.. AT trying to psych out the competition or planning to chuck a mackerel line off the stern if over the 67 days. There was an interview over the weekend that another team is hoping to setoff this week on an attempt on the Jules Verne trophy. Foiling trimaran aiming to beat 40 days.
See Corum has lost her mast 🙁
Indeed, bad news for Corum and Nicholas.
LinkedOut looking fast, but it’s a long way to go yet.
Just saw a video update from alex - he looked tired to say the least. I guess he knows what he’s doing and how hard he has pushed in the past
He seems a bit more chipper now!
Alex still leading the pack - the southern ocean will be interesting!
In other news - I know I’m out of touch with what folk spend on clothes... but FFS!
Just looked at the Hugo Boss branded stuff - it’s £89 for the polo shirt the Alex is wearing in the promo shots. And £249 for the rollneck!
Not surprising given the boat probably cost about £4m!!
Aye, someone has to pay for pink paint. 😂
Amazing that le Can on an old boat is still in 4th.
Anyone know why Alex has dropped back?
Not really. There's been quite a lot of upwind work so far and the foilers are not optimised for this.
Once they get slightly more breeze and a reaching course they should pull away more.
Other than the changing conditions (he didn't have as good a run through the folding as Le Cam) there's a thought that Alex has been "taking it easy"* and getting sleep before hitting the southern Ocean when it will all kick off!
Also the inside course is now looking a bit better than the (longer, but better wind angle) outside course Alex kinda had to take.
(Actually the inside hasn't got better, the outside had got a bit worse)
*All relative!
I get the feeling from his recent videos that he isn't too fussed, just wants to be in leading pack as the pass into Southern Ocean. Apparently his boat is pretty optimised for the down wind conditions of the Southern Ocean.
Thomson in trouble of the coast of Brazil with possible structural problems.
Bit vague in the press release but the last sentence doesn't bode to well....
Alex T has slowed right down, I hope the structural issue is fixable, but a bit of epoxy glue won't be much use out there. He went round last time with a broken foil, but a structural issue sounds like hull, keel or rig and you'd be mad to go into the Southern Ocean with problems like that. Fingers crossed for good news.
What's interesting is that he was actually in pretty mild conditions, do it may have been a UFO (unidentified floating object).
He will have kit on board for some repairs but it's a question of what's damaged.
The hub indicates that the bow is 1.3 m underwater and that he is listing at 23deg. It also says he is currently doing 8 knots. Something odd going on. Poor chap, must be so gutting. Hope it can be fixed.
Longitudinal beam damaged it seems.
He's got all the kit and directions he needs so will hopefully get it fixed.
Says he's put the boat in a position to minimise movement so it sounds like he's going to be reinforcing with carbon/epoxy {he'll want the hull flex to be zero while the repair cures}.
Probably a good time to discover it as at least it can be repaired now which it may not be possible once in the southern ocean.
This is the risk you take going for a toilet with the added potential for damage caused by higher speed.
Toilet???!
Foiler!
😁
The hub indicates that the bow is 1.3 m underwater and that he is listing at 23deg.
Those are maximums within the last hour.
Tbh I don't really get how they can measure negative on the bow height using ultrasonics (presumably facing down) on the bowsprit - but I assume that is not working as it's not changed!
he appears to be pointing the right direction now at least, but still very slow. Fingers crossed he can fix it and get going safely again.
Bugger.
Anyone hazard a guess on the effectiveness of such a repair? I know nothing about these boats but avidly following race. I saw that the hull make have broken due to the hull slamming down as it was foiling. In which case a repair on this area will have to be at least as good as it was previously to continue??? Is this possible with a bit a glue and carbon sheet??
They have released a video of the damage. https://www.alexthomsonracing.com/the-hub/latest-videos/
Looks like she has broken her back, but they appear to have it in hand to repair her and continue racing.
Is this possible with a bit a glue and carbon sheet??
Possibly as that's all there would have been there in the first place!
Looks like she has broken her back, but they appear to have it in hand to repair her and continue racing.
Plenty of loading going through there then - more than they designed for!!
Certainly looks fixable given he seems to have a lot of kit on board. End result will be very ugly but hopefully over-engineered and strong enough to see them to the end.
Having carbon C-plate and girder (I beam presumably) will be a massive help. Plenty to do though.
I'm very impressed at his positive attitude.
What a shame - clearly been taking a beating though.
I am wondering why carry so much repair material rather than put it into the structure already?
I think it is really interesting that they have published so much detail about what is basically a failure.
His boat doesn’t look relaxing at the best of times, going into the southern oceans with a diy repair will be terrifying.
wow...that is really badly broken! v impressed if he can mend that sufficiently
Yep, seems quite relaxed about it . We will see...
I am wondering why carry so much repair material rather than put it into the structure already?
Because you don't know where is going to break before it does, and overbuilding everything would weigh too much. These boats are essentially experimental prototypes.
Because you don’t know where is going to break before it does, and overbuilding everything would weigh too much. These boats are essentially experimental prototypes.
Also the new boat hasn't had much sea trial time to flush these issues out...
Three things spring to mind from that video - one, that boat is very broken, two, the boat had an awful lot of reinforcement in the bow and three that failure looks looks a design/build failure, not from a UFO.
Rather him than me taking that into the Southern Ocean.
But that the points isn't it, they should have been extensively sea-tested beforehand. Whats the point of spending so much money without testing it thoroughly? So far thats three foiling boats broken I think....john le cam looks good for the win!
that failure looks looks a design/build failure, not from a UFO.
Absolutely, no doubt. Continuous flexing in the hull.
Let's not forget that the now is always trying to meet up with the stern due to the rig loads.
So far thats three foiling boats broken
Charal was broken rudders possibly from UFO strike
Corum was mast failure possibly caused by too much sail in gusty conditions (they all have the same mast though and no others have gone)
HB design failure - not really, just underestimating the loading.
The broken piece connects to both the hull and the deck and is very near the bow - may even be the rig loads from the jibs/staysail pulling up rather than compression fractures from bow/stern loading.
Under sail again!
But that the points isn’t it, they should have been extensively sea-tested beforehand. Whats the point of spending so much money without testing it thoroughly? So far thats three foiling boats broken I think….john le cam looks good for the win!
I think that was the plan, before COVID-19 trashed everyone's testing plans...
Incredibly good videos showing the repairs coming from HB now - no wonder he's getting far more views than anyone else.
Very impressive 👏
I hope it lasts the southern ocean.
I sure he will check it daily.
Couldn't tell from the vids, was he breathing all that dust in when he was using his cutting disc? Couldn't see his mask. He'll avoid drowning then get black lung (or whatever carbon fibre lung disease is called) 🙄
When dropping off the top of a wave at 30 mph the stress on the broken part of the hull must be immense. The underside of the hull is pretty flat and the ride looks uncomfortable enough at the back of the boat.
He’ll avoid drowning then get black lung (or whatever carbon fibre lung disease is called)
I suspect as you head into the Southern Ocean with a broken boat you are not so worried about the long term issues.
In the bit I saw he was cutting outside.
Strangely, last night I started wondering if he has a dyson cordless vac on board for keeping the place tidy!!!!
His repairs seem to be going ok.
Bit more to do yet. Looks like it's strong enough for relatively gentle loads (i.e. what he's sailing in now) with some heavy duty reinforcing yet to be fitted ready for the southern ocean.
Looking forward to him putting his foot down.
Strangely, last night I started wondering if he has a dyson cordless vac on board for keeping the place tidy!!!!
Surely in the ocean he'd be better off with a Shark?
Oh chapeau 😂
LinkedOut has broken a foil - Jean le Cam looking more likely all the while!
Apivia looking fast, so long as it's in one piece.
LeCam is looking good...
Alex back underway
If trying to keep track of the Vendee boats wasn't bad enough I have also spotted that 3 Ultime trimarans have started an attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy for fastest time round the world.
Day and a half in and they are already between the Azores & Canaries with avg speeds around 30kts.
Only tracker site I have found is via the Sodebo team here: https://tropheejulesverne.sodebo.com/#cartographie
Anyone know where general news can be found?
I only know of two - Sodebo and Gitana
This Gitana tracker has both those boats (and a virtual third boat which is the current record).
It’s good spectator sport!
Poor progress from Hugo Boss over the last 4 hours, only 5.4 knots VMG at the 2030 UTC report, when others in the same breeze are doing double. I fear his repairs may not have worked.
I fear his repairs may not have worked.
He did say he had more repairs to do, and would do them overnight when it was cooler. So he's probably working on the repair, and not racing hard.
Alex T posted a video yesterday saying that the repairs were over.
Alex may have got his repairs done in the nick of time. Looks to me as if the leading pack are soon going to escape the high pressure system and get into stronger winds. Hoping Sam Davies can benefit from the decision to head south early and get the strong wind first. She and Louis Burton have had better boat speeds most of the day. Sam seems to be sailing a good race and her onboard reports are great to watch.
I fear his repairs may not have worked.
Def not the case - the repairs looked good and very solid.
He's just in poor conditions right now, but doing 8 knots in 9 knots of breeze is OK.
And now Alex has lost a rudder.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5360804197266922&id=124956890851705
Makes you wonder just how much UFO is floating about in the oceans. Gitana has just pulled out of the Jules Verne too after hitting something
Makes you wonder just how much UFO is floating about in the oceans
Basically, shit loads.
Worst are containers and there's 1000s of them floating around.
Re the rudder - I believe they normally take a spare blade but this maybe sounds more like damage to the steering/stock.
He can do without the starboard rudder at the moment.
Alex is out and limping to Cape Town.
matt_outandabout
Full Member
Alex is out and limping to Cape Town
Bolleux...
PRB appears to have been taking on water so Kevin Escoffier abandoned ship and Jean le Cam has picked him up from his life raft.
It's one problem after another with this race!
I wonder if Le Cam can keep racing with a passenger on board. It would seem a bit unfair for his race to be over due to someone else's misfortune. Food might become a problem onboard, maybe they could arrange a drop for them, though they don't get close to land other than Cape Horn.
It’s one problem after another with this race!
At least they're unlikely to pierce the armco and explode in a ball of flame. Not guaranteed but they can probably cross that off the list.
Le Cam is in the area and has spotted him but not yet been able to recover Escoffier.
In the meantime night has fallen, two more boats sent in to try and fish him out of his liferaft, gonna be a hectic night.
Just checked the tracker and saw JLC at 90 degrees to the track - first I heard about it!
Sincerely hope JLC can pull him aboard
Pretty certain it’s the end of his race according to the rules, which makes it even more fantastic that he’s given up his race to rescue.
I guess it comes as part of the make-up for those willing to race the southern ocean that they’re also prepared to give it up when needed, but still, chapeau.
Did you see Alex’s video earlier? Not surprisingly seemed quite cut up to be pulling out. Best of luck to him.
I guess their competitors are pretty much the only viable rescue service. You’d have to have confidence that anyone would come to your rescue otherwise you’d be completely nuts to sail into that part of the ocean with those risks. It must be one of those unwritten rules (perhaps it is written), you have to enact a rescue if asked.
Did you see Alex’s video earlier? Not surprisingly seemed quite cut up to be pulling out.
He seemed to be a broken man, unsurprisingly